Battery-and-charger assembling structure for a handheld power tool

ABSTRACT

A battery-and-charger assembling structure includes a battery and a charger. The battery is detachably mounted on the handheld seat or in the charger. The battery has two first grooves formed on two side surfaces. Each first groove has a transverse segment and a longitudinal segment connected to each other vertically or substantially vertically. The handheld seat has two first assembling segments. The charger has two first charger assembling segments. The first assembling segments or the first charger assembling segments are selectively mounted in the two transverse segments respectively. Each of the first assembling segments or each of the first charger assembling segments engages with or disengages from the corresponding first groove, thereby strengthening the connection between the battery with the handheld seat or the charger.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a tool, especially to a handheld powertool.

2. Description of the Prior Arts

A handheld power tool makes assembling or disassembling of objectseasier and more effective. The handheld power tool uses a battery as apower source and is combined with a traditional hand tool such as ascrewdriver or a drill so that people can use a handheld power toolinstead of manually driving the hand tools.

The abovementioned handheld power tool has a driving assembly, ahandheld seat, and a battery. The battery is detachably mounted on abottom end of the handheld seat as a power source to drive the drivingassembly which is mounted on a top end of the handheld seat. Thus, bymounting a hand tool such as a screwdriver or a drill on the drivingassembly, a user is able to drive the tool by electricity instead ofdriving the tool manually. In addition, for purposes of environmentalprotection, the battery can be detached from the handheld seat and beconnected to a charger to be recharged when out of power. Specifically,a conventional charger has a shallow groove and multiple conductivepins. The battery is placed in the shallow groove and is connected tothe conductive pins to be recharged.

However, the conventional battery has the following disadvantages.

First, an assembling structure between the battery and the handheld seatmakes them hard to be assembled, and a user may drop the battery duringassembling due to the bad design of the assembling structure.Specifically, two side surfaces of the battery form two groovesrespectively. Each groove extends horizontally from a front end of thebattery to a rear end of the battery, and forms an opening on the rearend of the battery. A bottom groove is formed on a bottom end of thehandheld seat. Two inner side surfaces of the bottom groove form tworibs respectively. When assembling, the user must hold the handheld seatand the battery by two hands respectively, and align two front ends ofthe ribs to the openings of the grooves. Then, the user slides the ribsinto the grooves and moves the ribs to a front end of the grooves tomake the handheld seat and battery assembled firmly. However, in orderto align the two front ends of the ribs to the openings of the grooves,the user has to align a corner of the handheld seat to a corner of thebattery when moving them toward each other. Therefore, the assemblingprocess is not easy to operate and the battery may be dropped easily dueto an inappropriate direction of a force applied by the user.

In addition, the handheld seat and the battery are mounted together byonly two grooves and two ribs on two sides respectively. Therefore, whenan impact occurs, the impact is borne by only one groove and one rib oneach side such that the groove and the rib will be damaged easily. Ifany rib or any groove is damaged due to the impact or the inappropriatedirection of the force applied by the user during assembling, thehandheld seat and the battery will never be assembled again.

Besides, the grooves, which extend from the front end of the battery tothe rear end of the battery, leads to high time-consumption because ittakes time for the user to move the ribs from the rear ends of thegrooves to the front ends of the grooves. This is against the mainpurpose of a tool, which is to increase efficiency.

Second, when being recharged, the battery is placed on the shallowgroove without fixing such that the battery will be easily separatedfrom the conductive pins or the battery may fall from the charger afteran impact. Both situations lead to failure of recharging and damage tothe battery, and even short circuit and fire.

In summary, the assembling structures between the battery and thehandheld seat and between the battery and the charger need to beimproved.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides anassembling structure for a battery of a handheld power tool to mitigateor obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide an assemblingstructure for a battery of a handheld power tool that makes the handheldseat and the battery assembled easily and strengthens the structureafter assembly to overcome the impact. Besides, the assembling structuremakes the battery and the charger assembled stably as well so that theassembling structure prevents the battery and the charger from beingseparated easily, and further avoid damaging the battery and causingfire.

The battery-and-charger assembling structure for a handheld power toolhas a charger and a battery. The charger has a battery groove and twofirst charger assembling segments. The battery groove is formed on a topsurface of the charger. The two first charger assembling segments areformed on two side walls of the battery groove toward each other. Thebattery is detachably mounted on the charger and has a casing. Thecasing has a connecting surface and two first grooves. The connectingsurface is mounted in and is connected to the battery groove of thecharger. The two first grooves are formed on two side surfaces of thecasing respectively. Each of the first grooves has a transverse segmentand a longitudinal segment. The transverse segment extends toward afront end of the casing and a rear end of the casing. A front end of thetransverse segment is closed. The longitudinal segment extends toward atop end of the casing and a bottom end of the casing. The longitudinalsegment is connected to and communicates with a rear end of thetransverse segment, extends to the connecting surface of the casing, andforms a first opening on the connecting surface of the casing. The twofirst charger assembling segments of the charger are selectively mountedin the two transverse segments of the two first grooves of the casingrespectively. Each of the first charger assembling segments enters ordeparts from the corresponding first groove through the correspondingfirst opening.

When the battery is mounted on the charger and being recharged, the twofirst charger assembling segments of the charger are moved into the twolongitudinal segments of the two first grooves through the two firstopenings respectively, and then are moved into the two transversesegments. Therefore, when being recharged, the battery is placed in thebattery groove of the charger as well as the two first assemblingsegments on the two side walls of the battery groove are mountedtogether with the two first grooves, which are in L shape, on the twosides of the battery. Moreover, the first assembling segment and thefirst groove are not only engaged to each other but also prevent thebattery and the charger from sliding relative to each other because thefirst assembling segment and the first groove generate friction betweenthemselves. Therefore, the first assembling segment and the first groovemake the battery and the charger assembled stably, prevent the batteryand the charger from being separated easily by an impact, and furtheravoid damaging the battery and causing fire.

In addition, the transverse segment and the longitudinal segment make itunnecessary for the first groove to extend from the front end of thebattery to the rear end of the battery. Therefore, the first grooveshortens the distance that the battery is moved and reduces the time forassembling the battery and the handheld seat or the battery and thecharger. Furthermore, the transverse segment and the longitudinalsegment avoid forming the first opening of the first groove on an end ofthe battery so that the transverse segment and the longitudinal segmentfurther prevent the battery from being dropped due to the inappropriatedirection of the force applied by the user during assembling.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a battery-and-handheld-seat assemblingstructure for a handheld power tool in accordance with the presentinvention; showing the battery;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the battery-and-handheld-seat assemblingstructure in FIG. 1, showing the battery mounted on the handheld seat;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the battery-and-handheld-seat assemblingstructure in FIG. 1, showing the battery and the handheld seat;

FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 are schematic views of the battery-and-handheld-seatassembling structure in FIG. 1, showing the motion during assembling ofthe battery and the handheld seat;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a battery-and-charger assemblingstructure for a handheld power tool in accordance with the presentinvention, showing the battery mounted on the charger;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the battery-and-charger assemblingstructure in FIG. 7, showing the battery and the charger; and

FIGS. 9, 10, and 11 are schematic views of the battery-and-chargerassembling structure in FIG. 7, showing the motion during assembling ofthe battery and the charger.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 7, a battery-and-handheld-seatassembling structure for a handheld power tool in accordance with thepresent invention comprises a handheld seat 10 and a battery 20. Abattery-and-charger assembling structure for a handheld power tool inaccordance with the present invention comprises a battery 20 and acharger 30. The basic structures of the battery 20 in the twoaforementioned assembling structures are the same, and so are theirpreferred embodiments, which will be descripted together as follows.

The battery 20 has a casing 21. The casing 21 has a connecting surface,two first grooves 211, and two second grooves 212.

The two first grooves 211 are formed on two side surfaces of the casing21 respectively. Each of the first grooves 211 has a transverse segment2111 and a longitudinal segment 2112. The transverse segment 2111extends toward a front end of the casing 21 and a rear end of the casing21. A front end of the transverse segment 2111 is closed and a rear endof the transverse segment 2111 is connected to and communicates with thelongitudinal segment 2112. The longitudinal segment 2112 extends towarda top end of the casing 21 and a bottom end of the casing 21, extends tothe connecting surface of the casing 21, and forms a first opening 2113on the connecting surface of the casing 21. In other words, the firstgroove 211 is a groove in an L shape formed on the casing 21.

The two second grooves 212 are formed on the two side surfaces of thecasing 21, are located in the back of the two first grooves 211, and arespaced apart from the two first grooves 211 respectively. Each of thesecond grooves 212 extends to a rear surface of the casing 21, and formsa second opening 2121 on the rear surface of the casing 21.

With further reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, when in use, the battery 20is mounted on the handheld seat 10. The handheld seat 10 has twoassembling walls 11, two first assembling segments 12, and two secondassembling segments 13.

The two assembling walls 11 protrude downwardly from a bottom surface ofthe handheld seat 10. The two assembling walls 11 are, but not limitedto, parallel to each other. The two assembling walls 11 are spaced apartfrom each other. The two first assembling segments 12 are respectivelyformed on the two assembling walls 11 toward each other. The two secondassembling segments 13 are respectively formed on the two assemblingwalls 11 toward each other, are located in the back of the two firstassembling segments 12, and are spaced apart from the two firstassembling segments 12.

With further reference to FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the battery 20 is mountedon the handheld seat 10 detachably, and the connecting surface of thebattery 20 is connected to the bottom surface of the handheld seat 10when the battery 20 is mounted on the handheld seat 10.

The two first assembling segments 12 of the handheld seat 10 areselectively mounted in the two transverse segments 2111 of the two firstgrooves 211 of the casing 21 respectively. Each of the first assemblingsegments 12 enters or departs from the corresponding first groove 211through the corresponding first opening 2213. The two second assemblingsegments 13 of the handheld seat 10 are selectively mounted in the twosecond grooves 212 of the casing 21 respectively. Each of the secondassembling segments 13 enters or departs from the corresponding secondgroove 212 through the corresponding second opening 2121.

In other words, during assembling, the first assembling segment 12 ismoved through the first opening 2113 first, and is then moved along thefirst groove 211, which is in an L shape. When the first assemblingsegment 12 is moved to a bottom end of the longitudinal segment 2112,the second assembling segment 13 of the handheld seat 10 is exactlylocated in a rear side of the second opening 2121, which is formed onthe rear surface of the casing 21 by the second groove 212. At the timethat the first assembling segment 12 is moved toward the front end ofthe transverse segment 2111 along the transverse segment 2111, thesecond assembling segment 13 is moved into the second groove 212 throughthe second opening 2121. Finally, the first assembling segment 12 ismoved to the front end of the transverse segment 2111 as the secondassembling segment 13 is moved to a front end of the second groove 212,and the assembling process of the handheld seat 10 and the battery 20 iscompleted.

Briefly, when each of the first assembling segments 12 of the handheldseat 10 engages with the corresponding first groove 211 through thecorresponding first opening 2113, each of the second assembling segments13 is aligned to the second opening 2121 of the corresponding secondgroove 212; when each of the first assembling segments 12 is moved intothe transverse segment 2111 of the first groove 211, each of the secondassembling segments 13 is moved into the second groove 212.

In addition, the second assembling segment 13 and the second groove 212are made to strengthen the structure of the handheld seat 10 and thebattery 20 after assembled. Specifically, the two second assemblingsegments 13 and the two second grooves 212 share a force of an impactwith the two first assembling segments 12 and the two first grooves 211on the two sides of the casing 21 respectively in order to prevent thefirst assembling segment 12 and the first groove 211 from bearing theforce of the impact alone, and therefore strengthen the product.However, the handheld seat 10 and the battery 20 can also be implementedwithout the second assembling segment 13 and the second groove 212.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the transverse segment 2111 of each of thefirst grooves 211 of the casing 21 is located adjacent to the connectingsurface of the casing 21, and the longitudinal segment 2112 of each ofthe first grooves 211 of the casing 21 is located adjacent to a middlebetween a front end of the casing 21 and a rear end of the casing 21. Bythis, the present invention significantly shortens the distance for thefirst assembling segment 12 to move. Thus, the present inventionimproves efficiency as well. However, the transverse segment 2111 is notlimited to be located adjacent to the connecting surface as well as thelongitudinal segment 2112 is not limited to be located adjacent to themiddle between the front end of the casing 21 and the rear end of thecasing 21.

When assembling the battery 20 and the handheld seat 10, the user makesthe connecting surface of the battery 20 face to the bottom surface ofthe handheld seat 10, and moves the battery 20 toward the handheld seat10. After the first assembling segment 12 of the handheld seat 10 ismoved to the rear end of the transverse segment 2111 of the first groove211 through the first opening 2113 along the longitudinal segment 2112,the user moves the battery 20 and the handheld seat 10 relative to eachother along the transverse segment 2111 and then completes theassembling process.

The user abuts a surface against another surface instead of abutting acorner against another corner, thereby eliminating the possibility ofcausing an inappropriate direction of force. Therefore, theabovementioned assembling process prevents the battery from falling fromthe user's hand and is more convenient to operate.

In addition, the transverse segment 2111 and the longitudinal segment2112 make it unnecessary for the first groove 211 to extend from thefront end of the battery 20 to the rear end of the battery 20.Therefore, the first groove 211 shortens the distance that the battery20 is moved and reduces the time for assembling the battery 20 and thehandheld seat 10. Furthermore, the second assembling segment 13 and thesecond groove 212 strengthen the structure of the handheld seat 10 andthe battery 20 after assembled by sharing the force of the impact withthe two first assembling segments 12 and the two first grooves 211 onthe two sides of the casing 21 respectively, and therefore strengthenthe product.

With further reference to FIGS. 1, 7, and 8, when the battery 20 is outof power, the battery 20 can be detached from the handheld seat 10 andbe connected to the charger 30 to recharge.

The charger 30 has a battery groove 31 formed on a top surface of thecharger 30. The battery groove 31 has two first charger assemblingsegments 32 and two second charger assembling segments 33. The two firstcharger assembling segments 32 are formed on two side walls of thebattery groove 31 respectively toward each other. The two second chargerassembling segments 33 are respectively formed on the two side walls ofthe battery groove 31 toward each other, are located in the back of thetwo first charger assembling segments 32, and are spaced apart from thetwo first charger assembling segments 32.

With further reference to FIGS. 9 to 11, the battery 20 is mounted onthe handheld seat 10 detachably, and the connecting surface of thebattery 20 is mounted in and is connected to the battery groove 31 ofthe charger 30 when the battery 20 is mounted on the charger 30.

The two first charger assembling segments 32 of the charger 30 areselectively mounted in the two transverse segments 2111 of the two firstgrooves 211 of the casing 21 respectively. Each of the first chargerassembling segments 32 enters or departs from the corresponding firstgroove 211 through the corresponding first opening 2113. The two secondcharger assembling segments 33 are selectively mounted in the two secondgrooves 212 of the casing 21 respectively. Each of the second chargerassembling segments 33 enters or departs from the corresponding secondgroove 212 through the corresponding second opening 2121.

In other words, during assembling, the first charger assembling segment32 is moved through the first opening 2113 first, and is then movedalong the first groove 211, which is in an L shape. When the firstcharger assembling segment 32 is moved to the bottom end of thelongitudinal segment 2112, the second charger assembling segment 33 ofthe charger 30 is exactly located in the rear side of the second opening2121, which is formed on the rear surface of the casing 21 by the secondgroove 212. At the time when the first charger assembling segment 32 ismoved toward the front end of the transverse segment 2111 along thetransverse segment 2111, the second charger assembling segment 33 ismoved into the second groove 212 through the second opening 2121.Finally, the first charger assembling segment 32 is moved to the frontend of the transverse segment 2111 as the second charger assemblingsegment 33 is moved to the front end of the second groove 212, and theassembling process of the charger 30 and the battery 20 is completed.

Briefly, when each of the first charger assembling segments 32 of thecharger 30 engages with the corresponding first groove 2111 through thecorresponding first opening 2113, each of the second charger assemblingsegments 32 is aligned to the second opening 2113 of the correspondingsecond groove 212. When each of the first charger assembling segments 32is moved into the transverse segment 2111 of the first groove 211, eachof the second charger assembling segments 33 is moved into the secondgroove 212.

Besides, in this embodiment, the battery groove 31 of the charger 30further has a front end 311 and a rear end 312. The front end 311 is toaccommodate the front end of the transverse segment 2111 of the battery20, and the rear end 312 is to accommodate the rear end of thetransverse segment 2111 of the battery 20. When the charger 30 is placedhorizontally, the rear end 312 inclines downwards relative to the frontend 311 so that the battery 20 inclines when the battery 20 is mountedon the horizontally-placed charger 30. In other words, a height aboveground level of the rear end 312 of the charger 30 is lower than aheight above ground level of the front end 311 of the charger 30. Thus,the battery 20 tends to slide downward toward the rear end 312. By this,the first charger assembling segment 32 and the second chargerassembling segment 33 will be mounted in the front end of the transversesegment 2111 of the first groove 211 and the front end of the secondgroove 212 respectively by the gravity. Therefore, the battery 20 andthe charger 30 are prevented from sliding relative to each other anddetaching easily.

The structure of the battery 20 is not limited to the abovementioned, aslong as the front end 311 and the rear end 312 can be implemented on asame height above ground level, which means that the battery groove 31can be implemented horizontally. Thus, the battery 20 is placedhorizontally when mounted on the horizontally-placed charger 30. In thiscase, the first groove 211 of the battery 20 and the first chargerassembling segment 32 of the charger 30 can be fitted tightly in orderto prevent relative sliding and detaching, or the first groove 211 andthe first charger assembling segment 32 comprise a bump and a grooveengaging with each other.

In addition, the second charger assembling segment 33 and the secondgroove 212 are made to strengthen the structure of the charger 30 andthe battery 20 after assembled. Specifically, the two second chargerassembling segment 33 and the two second grooves 212 share the force ofthe impact with the two first charger assembling segments 32 and the twofirst grooves 211 on the two sides of the casing 21 respectively inorder to prevent the first charger assembling segment 32 and the firstgroove 211 from bearing the force of the impact alone, and thereforestrengthen the product. However, the charger 30 and the battery 20 canalso be implemented without the second charger assembling segment 33 andthe second groove 212.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the transverse segment 2111 of each of thefirst grooves 211 of the casing 21 is located adjacent to the connectingsurface of the casing 21, and the longitudinal segment 2112 of each ofthe first grooves 211 of the casing 21 is located adjacent to a middlebetween a front end of the casing 21 and a rear end of the casing 21. Bythis, the present invention significantly shortens the distance for thefirst charger assembling segment 32 to move. Thus, the present inventionimproves efficiency as well. However, the transverse segment 2111 is notlimited to be located adjacent to the connecting surface as well as thelongitudinal segment 2112 is not limited to be located adjacent to themiddle between the front end of the casing 21 and the rear end of thecasing 21.

The structure that the first charger assembling segment 32 engages withthe first groove 211 makes the battery 20 mounted on the charger 30stably and prevents the battery 20 and the charger 30 from beingdetached easily, thereby further avoiding recharging failure and fire.

In addition, the transverse segment 2111 and the longitudinal segment2112 make it unnecessary for the first groove 211 to extend from thefront end of the battery 20 to the rear end of the battery 20.Therefore, the first groove 211 shortens the distance that the battery20 is moved and reduces the time for assembling the battery 20 and thehandheld seat 10. Furthermore, the second assembling segment 13 and thesecond groove 212 strengthen the structure of the handheld seat 10 andthe battery 20 after assembled by sharing the force of the impact withthe two first assembling segments 12 and the two first grooves 211 onthe two sides of the casing 21 respectively, and therefore strengthenthe product.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the presentinvention have been set forth in the foregoing description, togetherwith details of the structure and features of the invention, thedisclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details,especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts withinthe principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by thebroad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims areexpressed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A battery-and-charger assembling structure for ahandheld power tool comprising: a charger having a battery groove formedon a top surface of the charger; and two first charger assemblingsegments formed on two side walls of the battery groove toward eachother; and a battery detachably mounted on the charger and having acasing having a connecting surface mounted in and connected to thebattery groove of the charger; and two first grooves formed on two sidesurfaces of the casing respectively; each of the first grooves having atransverse segment extending toward a front end of the casing and a rearend of the casing; a front end of the transverse segment being closed;and a longitudinal segment extending toward a top end of the casing anda bottom end of the casing; the longitudinal segment connected to andcommunicating with a rear end of the transverse segment, extending tothe connecting surface of the casing, and forming a first opening on theconnecting surface of the casing; the two first charger assemblingsegments of the charger selectively mounted in the two transversesegments of the two first grooves of the casing respectively; each ofthe first charger assembling segments entering or departing from thecorresponding first groove through the corresponding first opening. 2.The battery-and-charger assembling structure as claimed in claim 1,wherein the transverse segment of each of the first grooves of thecasing is located adjacent to the connecting surface; and thelongitudinal segment of each of the first grooves of the casing islocated adjacent to a middle between the front end of the casing and therear end of the casing.
 3. The battery-and-charger assembling structureas claimed in claim 1, wherein the casing of the battery further has twosecond grooves respectively formed on two side surfaces of the casing,located in the back of the two first grooves, and spaced apart from thetwo first grooves; each of the second grooves extending toward the frontend of the casing, extending to a rear surface of the casing, andforming a second opening on the rear surface of the casing; and thecharger further has two second charger assembling segments respectivelyformed on the two side walls of the battery groove toward each other,located in the back of the two first charger assembling segments, andspaced apart from the two first charger assembling segments; the twosecond charger assembling segments selectively mounted in the two secondgrooves of the casing respectively; each of the second chargerassembling segments entering or departing from the corresponding secondgroove through the corresponding second opening; when each of the firstcharger assembling segments of the charger enters the correspondingfirst groove through the corresponding first opening, each of the secondcharger assembling segments is aligned to the second opening of thecorresponding second groove; when each of the first charger assemblingsegments is moved into the transverse segment of the first groove, eachof the second charger assembling segments is moved into the secondgroove.
 4. The battery-and-charger assembling structure as claimed inclaim 2, wherein the casing of the battery further has two secondgrooves respectively formed on two side surfaces of the casing, locatedin the back of the two first grooves, and spaced apart from the twofirst grooves; each of the second grooves extending toward the front endof the casing, extending to a rear surface of the casing, and forming asecond opening on the rear surface of the casing; and the chargerfurther has two second charger assembling segments respectively formedon the two side walls of the battery groove toward each other, locatedin the back of the two first charger assembling segments, and spacedapart from the two first charger assembling segments; the two secondcharger assembling segments selectively mounted in the two secondgrooves of the casing respectively; each of the second chargerassembling segments entering or departing from the corresponding secondgroove through the corresponding second opening; when each of the firstcharger assembling segments of the charger enters the correspondingfirst groove through the corresponding first opening, each of the secondcharger assembling segments is aligned to the second opening of thecorresponding second groove; when each of the first charger assemblingsegments is moved into the transverse segment of the first groove, eachof the second charger assembling segments is moved into the secondgroove.
 5. The battery-and-charger assembling structure as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the battery groove of the charger further has a frontend configured to accommodate the front end of the transverse segment ofthe battery; and a rear end configured to accommodate the rear end ofthe transverse segment of the battery; a height above ground level ofthe rear end of the charger is lower than a height above ground level ofthe front end of the charger so that the battery inclines when thebattery is mounted on the charger.
 6. The battery-and-charger assemblingstructure as claimed in claim 4, wherein the battery groove of thecharger further has a front end configured to accommodate the front endof the transverse segment of the battery; and a rear end configured toaccommodate the rear end of the transverse segment of the battery; aheight above ground level of the rear end of the charger is lower than aheight above ground level of the front end of the charger so that thebattery inclines when the battery is mounted on the charger.